Foot casting process



y 1959 A; E. MURRAY 2,887,727

' FOOT CASTING PROCESS Filed Oct. 25, 1955 ll INVENTOR flzA/v 5 W664:

ATTORNEY United States My invention relates particularly to a processformaking'casts of the feet which is not only simple in procedure A,"New I prepare a mixture of powdered plaster of Pari's and water havingthe consistency of a thick cream one but has extraordinary efiectivenessand accuracy. I

An object of my invention is to provide a casting procedure by which theutmost accuracy of the foot contours maybe obtained. A further object isto makecastsof I 2,887,727 Patented May 26, 1959 receives "an impressionofthe foot and such impression remains in the mat after the foot isremoved. The impression forms a reservoir for a pool of molding materialin which the foot is placed to form a final impression of the bottom ofthe'foot while in weight-bearing ,condition.

Now the person is made to stand up on the terry cloth pieces 4 and 5,which squeezes ,out a little of the water, just sufiicient tomake thewater visible, around the margin of the foot. Thereafter, the saidperson is seated on Tithe chair 2, whereupon' the operator makes anannular the feet in which the separation lines of the negative cast mayaccurately register and preserve the foot contours,

so as to make it possible to produce a moreacc'urate and eifectivepositive cast therefrom. Further objects will appear from'the detaileddescription of the same hereinafter.

While my invention is capable of being carried out in many differentways, b,y wayof illustration I have described only certain embodimentsthereofin connection with the accompanying, drawings, ,in which g Fig. lis a side elevationof a table and chair, having on the'table a board onwhich the casting procedure is conducted while the person from whosefeet the mm are being made may be seated on said chair; V h

Fig. 2 is a side elevation offsaidboand'showing the later stage of theprocess in which the foot has been returned to the board for thecompletion of the casting operation; H e f; Fig. 3 is a plan view.of theboard showing-the foot resting thereon in a plurality of rectangularpieces of terry channel or cup 6 with his fingers all around the marginof' the foot in the said pieces 4, adjacent to the foot, so that theinnerand outer rims of the annular channel 'or cup are at just about theundercut line of the" foot.

thin mud, and having therein about one 'tablespoonof salt 'to the whole'batchof plaster of Paris mixtureand water 'used in making the negativecast of the foot,"to accelerate the setting thereof. Some of this thinplaster jof Paris mixture is now put into the impression 7 of'a foot 8'whichhas beenmade inthe pieces 4, the foot 8 having been removed orlifted in, order to permit the introduction of the plasterof Paris, tofill the impression 7 up to the' level of the inner margins of saidannular cup; Preferably, now, the foot isgr eased all overwith fvaselineor almond oil or face cream or hand lotion. The foot 8 is then returnedto the impression. 7 which fcause's the plaster of; Paris to overflowand fill the channel or' c'up 6. This provides an impressionof the foot,including the toe-recess pyramid, in athinlayer bffplaster of Parisapproximately 1 thick. With the fingers, the operator then clears theedge of the foot all ai'ound, down to the undercut line, by removingwith the fingers any excess 'of the plaster of Paris mixtureextendingabove the undercutline, and to the same' level cloth in whichthere is formed an annular'channel or cup around the foot; and I a Fig.4 is a side elevation of the complete negative cast held in position onthe board on which it is formed, by means of rubber bands.

In carrying out my inventi0n, I provide a'tablef 1 having a chair}thereon .oniwhich said'fperson :is to. be seated, and having on .saidtable. a rectanguJarbdard -S. On the said board 3 I place, one afteranother, about eight rectangular pieces 4 of a looped pile fabric, suchas terry cloth, having preferably the looped pile on both faces thereof,the said pieces 4 being each individually wet with water and wrung outbefore being placed, one after another, on said board 3. If desired,beneath the heel portion of said pieces 4 I may or may not have aplurality, for instance two, four or six, folded pieces 5 like saidpieces of terry cloth 4, of approximately the same size. These pieces 5are each wet with water and wrung out in the same way as the pieces 4above referred to. Furthermore, they are applied, one after another, ontop of one another, to form the desired elevation at the heel, each"piece being folded over near the middle of said piece with the foldbeing located at the extreme rear or heel portion of the pieces 4.However, as shown in Fig. 1, the forward edges of said pieces 5,individually and collectively, need not register with one another butare located to provide a tapered position thereof with the edges of thelowermost piece 5 extending farther toward the left, in Fig. 1, and theother pieces 5 ending successively more to the right, in said figure.The wet mat of fabric material forms a hydraulic mat of animpressionable medium which readily from between the toes. At the sametime the operator clears out some of the plaster of Paris. from thechannel 6, thus producing fa shallow channelfapproximately A deep andhaving thewidthl of the fingen all aroundfthe foot, j to aidin centeringthe negative portions of the cast. 4 Now,if desired, but which may beomitted if desired, pieces or stripsof A3" thick'pla'stelene', a moldingclay mixedwithfoil, 8a, may be placed between the respective toes, tobedat'er removedashereinaftet're ferred'to', before making the positivecast, the plas'tele'n'e strips being inserted to provide space forstrengthening the webs of plaster of Paris between the toes in thepositive cast and in order to prevent them from becoming broken.Thereupon, I brush all over the exposed plaster of Paris, beyond themargin of the foot, with a silicate of soda solution in water, which isallowed to dry. This produces an extremely efiective and accurate lowernegative plantar cast having the contours of the foot in itsbody-weight-bearing position while supported in a hydraulic medium,especially as it has not been necessary to lift the foot out of theimpression containing the plaster of Paris before making the uppernegative cast, and so that the extreme inner margin of the negativeplaster cast on the foot has been preserved and not disturbed by footlifting in any way. It is found, furthermore, that this innermost marginof the lower negative cast is better preserved by this procedure inrelation to the upper portion of the negative plaster cast. As aconsequence, also, the positive cast to be made in this compositenegative cast becomes far more accurate and effective, especially at themeeting portions of the upper and lower negative plaster casts. It willbe noted, also, that this effectiveness and accuracy retains theweight-bearing position and shape of the foot. The said weight on thefoot may be merely the leg, or the weight of the body if the said personhas been made to stand While the foot impression 7 is being made. Thisimpression of the foot, containing as well the toe-recess pyramidobtained in the plaster, is very delicate and correct inasmuch as theplaster beneath the foot is usually not more than approximately thick.

Now there is built up all over the foot and out to the outer margins ofthe board 1, more of the plaster of Paris mixture 9, as shown in Fig. 4.Care is taken, however, to form two transversely and vertically flatareas 10 and 11 near the front and rear of the plaster 9 to receive ahorizontal rubber band 12, which is aided by two rubber bands 13 and 14for holding the negative cast portions together. While the plaster issoft, furthermore, separating lines or indentations 15 and 16 are madedown the front and rear of the upper negative cast 9, respectively, forthe subsequent separation of the negative cast into two upper portions.The foot, with the upper cast 9, is

'now lifted away from the bottom portion of the cast 17,

leaving on the upper negative cast an annular depending .rib formed bythe plaster which has enter the channel 6.

The upper negative cast is thereupon separated by tapping with a hammerinto a forward portion 18 and a rearward portion 19. The plastelenestrips 8a can now be removed from the lower cast 17. Then thethree-piece negative cast 17, 18, 19, is secured together with the board1 by means of the rubber bands 12, 13 and 14, having, as above referredto, the very perfect meeting edges between the lower negative cast 17an'dthe upper negative cast 18, 19, especially because of theinterfitting rib and channel 6. Furthermore, it is noted that the lowernegative cast 17 has the further advantage of having no marks of terrycloth or other fabric surfaces therein, but presents a smooth surfacematching the foot surface with exactitude.

The whole interior of the negative cast 17, 18, 19 can now be brushedall over with a silicate of soda solution in water and then a positivecast 20 made therein by pouring in another batch of the plaster of Parismixture, above referred to.

While I have described my invention above in detail I wish it to beunderstood that many changes may be made therein without departing fromthe spirit of the same. For instance, this process may be carried out,if desired, by placing on the foot, before and during the castingprocess, a toe pad or interdigital toe-positioner of any desired kind,as, for example, such as shown and described in my copending applicationSer. No. 465,109, filed October 27, 1954, upon InterdigitalToe-Positioners, Casts, Footwear, Process of Making the Same andProducts Thereof.

Iclaim:

l. The method of making a cast of the foot which comprises placing ayielding hydraulic mat on a support which mat comprises a plurality oflayers of woven fabric material, placing the foot on said yieldinghydraulic mat, bringing body weight to bear on the foot to form animpression of the foot in the yielding hydraulic mat, removing the footfrom the foot impression, introducing a molding material into the hollowof the foot impression, placing the foot back into the foot impression,pressing the foot down against the molding material to form animpression of the foot therein, and then covering the exposed portion ofthe foot with a molding material to form a negative cast of the foot.

2. The method of making a cast of the foot which comprises the steps ofplacing a wet mat of fabric mate rial on a support, placing the foot onsaid wet fabric mat, pressing the foot down against the mat to form animpression of the foot in said mat, removing the foot from the footimpression, introducing a molding material into the hollow of the footimpression, thereafter replacing the foot in the foot impression,pressing the foot down against the molding material to form animpression of the foot therein, and then covering the exposed portion ofthe foot with a molding material to form a negative cast of the foot.

3. The method specified in claim 2 which includes the steps of wetting aplurality of pieces of terry cloth fabric material and then placing theplurality of pieces of terry cloth on top of each other on a support toform the wet mat of fabric material.

4. The method specified in claim 2 in which the molding material isplaster of Paris.

5. The method specified in claim 2 which includes the steps of forming aseparate channel in the wet fabric mat surrounding the foot impressionwhich is positioned adjacent thereto, and then covering the exposedportion of the foot in said foot impression with a layer of moldingmaterial thick enough to extend down into said channel.

6. The method specified in claim 2 which includes the step of bringingthe weight of the body to bear on the foot to form a weight-bearingimpression thereof in the said fabric mat.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,177,304 Murray Oct. 24, 1939 2,472,754 Mead June 7, 1949 2,547,419Sugarman et al Apr. 3, 1951 2,565,758 Covino Aug. 28, 1951'

